World News

Soweto Gospel Choir will release their second recording Blessed on Shanachie Entertainment on January 24, 2006. They will also kick off an ambitious 44-city North American tour in February 2006. Their American debut, Voices from Heaven which came out in Jan. of 2005 hit #1 on the Billboard World Music Charts and their 35-city US tour. The New York Times says“(The choir) has a cornucopia of remarkable voices: sharp, sweet, kindly, raspy and incantatory leads above a magnificently velvety blend…the music is both meticulous and unstoppable…” while Vibe Magazine declares “The South African Choir successfully coordinates intricate harmonies with hand claps, tambourines, djembe drums, and soulful singing, which beckon all to reclaim their spirit.”

In addition to the choir's musical efforts, they have a charitable initiative that is quite remarkable called Vukani (Zulu for Get Up, Do Something!) that was created in 2003. The choir’s charity in conjunction with Nkosi’s Haven (a Soweto-based AIDS-care project established by Gail Johnson, whose late son Nkosi, at age 11, gave a moving address to a United Nations international AIDS conference that was televised world-wide) raises funds for AIDS orphan establishments that receive no government or private funding. The choir has been able to raise a significant amount of money that has been used to donate food parcels and other essential goods to numerous needy organizations.